Los Angeles city, county, school and state leaders have been busy taking strong stands against President Trump ever since he was elected. Resolutions have been passed, special funds created and laws proposed to combat potential Trump policies.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to oppose the nomination of Scott Pruitt to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, arguing his appointment “would impact the health and welfare of the American people and the environment.” Following this, six council members went on to introduce a motion to oppose 11 other cabinet nominees.
Similarly, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, and Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, have made a point of using their positions to gear much of the current legislative session towardsbuilding a “firewall” around California to resist “the cynical, short sighted and reactionary agenda that is rising in the wake of the election,” as Rendon said shortly after being re-elected speaker.
Meanwhile, both Los Angeles city and county have undertaken efforts to defend undocumented immigrants from deportation, creating a so-called L.A. Justice Fund.
Even the Los Angeles Unified School District has gotten involved, essentially treating Trump’s election and inauguration as traumatic events, with Superintendent Michelle King advising students to work with teachers and adminsitrators to develop their “political consciousnessness.”
Though it is quite satisfying to see a pronounced skepticism of the president and federal overreach, with the 10th Amendment making a comeback of sorts, at some point this energy needs to be redirected to local, practical problems.
Rhetorical bluster against the president can only go so far in actually improving the lives of the average California and Los Angeles County resident and student. So far, the most productive thing we have gotten out of this is has been the L.A. City Council getting around to decriminalizing street vendors, which it could have done decades ago but only mustered the will to do so after noting many street vendors are immigrants.
California generally and Los Angeles County particularly have more than enough real problems to take on. For starters, according to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, California has the highest poverty rate in the nation, with one in five residents in poverty.
These figures are about the same in Los Angeles County, and it doesn’t help that, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, most of the jobs expected to be created in the county through 2020 will be low-paying jobs that don’t require any work experience. Perhaps local politicians might want to set aside some time to work towards making California and Los Angeles County more economically competitive in order to help lift people out of poverty.
Instead of critiquing Cabinet appointments, the City Council might better use its time resolving its perpetual pension crisis, with one in five general fund dollars going toward lucrative pensions rather than practical city services. Likewise, LAUSD might want to focus on educating students rather than trying to mold their political consciousness. Getting a majority of LAUSD students to actually meet state standards on math and English would be a start.
As important as it is to stand up to the federal government when necessary, local leaders have a responsibility to properly lead their respective jurisdictions. And so far, they’ve performed abysmally.
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